Nigerian Govt. | Tourism Potential | Ojude Oba | Calabar Carnival | Viewpoint | Veegil Media
taking a hue from Brazil revenue generated by the tourism sector during the Rio Carnival in 2024 contributed 1.8 billion to the Brazilian economy now this discovery is according to the global data and business intelligence platform statista Nigerian States actually ought to do better taking a queue from Brazil I mean here as the state governments concerned should resurrect and reclaim the various indigenous festivals across the country if it is to actually achieve a clear and a seamless strategy towards a 2030 goal on Viewpoint where we discover perspectives and embrace dialogue we take the bed's eye view on the role of the federal and state government in the tourism sector with an esteemed guest branch manager of a reputable travel agency why more should be done by the Nigerian government particularly the state government to promote tourism and create a robust economy through satorial opulence dance and Fan Fair join us in the next phase of the show but before you do that you do well to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us across various social media platforms [Music] [Music] you're welcome back to the show the show is Viewpoint where we discover perspectives and embrace Dialogue on the show with me we've got uh uh tourism experts and branch manager of a reputable travel agency T and she'll be shedding light concerning uh the Nigerian government and the tourism sector T you're welcome to the show thank you very much for having me okay so straight to the point you're quite conversant with the tourism sector as it is um talking coming from this Quee of this state Festival replicating it to other festivals how the government can actually key in and use this to actually boost the economy where we find ourselves in this uh cost of living quag Maya now on a scale of one to 100 how will you rate or rank the Nigerian tourism sector see what can I say as an expert I would really to rate US and high skill but considering so many factors which are affecting our tourism here in Nigeria I wouldn't want to give it a figure but I would say we are very very low on a scale we are very low because right now we are dealing with a lot of issues when it comes to tourism and factors like accessibility we don't have um infrastructure infrastructures very poor infrastructures um our attra our tourist attractions are not well kept they are not you know in proper conditions and most important security we are dealing with insecurity in Nigeria so all these factors are much more are affecting tourism sector and it's one of the reason why I would say that if I'm to rate it if at all I should do a figure is going to be below I would say 50 below 50 maybe 30 or 40 to go about okay so you rated a ranking uh below 50% meaning that uh the government has a lot of homework to do to make sure the tourism sector breaks in funds not to be solely dependent on uh the major oil exports or whatever right so moving on without proper planning a potential tourism Ena like the just concluded OA which was last month in June inun State theala Festival in anra state the Calabar in Cross River and the IG Festival in the B Clans just to mention a few we continue to actually rely on sponsorship and engagement by in the informal economy now shouldn't state government actually peit these festivals more through storytelling advertisement and cultural conversations to receive not just only Global attention but uh not just local attention rather but also majorly Global attention V Investments you know you know this this is a very very um sensitive topic because it's sensitive to me because I feel it have a lot of potential which you are yet to even scratch the surface imagine you living in a country where you're getting to know about such festivals only on social media and I feel we we need to we need to scratch the we need to um go in further because festivals like this look at look at the o f we we saw we saw um a culture we saw a culture that was kind of like kept looky and it was brought to life through the use of social media so if the government decides to come in absolutely yes we we would attract um foreign investors will be seen on a global stage so I feel that yes the government needs to P in U more they should you know put in more um investment into such festivals into such cultural awareness they should you know invest more they shouldn't just focus on just one aspect of um you know things that bringing in revenue for them if if they start doing more of advertisement more of Storytelling you know we we will get to a point where people forign because I I tell you a lot of tourists this is why they travel around the world they just want to taste from different culture we want to see what is going on and then if we having festival for me I sh the FES and I was like wow wow you could see different attires colorful attires you could see different cultures stting from um the first things they have to do before you know the the Festival begins and how the big Festival goes on and all it brought in prominent people from all around the world people flew in from different parts of world just for that festival and and look at people complained about the leading to the festival people complain about security issues so these are things that the government needs to start taking care of because if if they can't take care about take care of it then how are we going to promote it so I believe that yes if Government really really keing on working on the tourism aspect of Nigeria we are going to we are going to grow beyond our expectation if they can invest more in the advertisement the pr of any Tes both in the North in the West in the east in all parts of Nigeria definitely you know it will be one source of you know generating revenue for the country thank you okay you mentioned the aspect of roads here now Frankly Speaking when roads are constructed it's common knowledge that that area is actually open now if the state government should actually construct and improve and maintain also Rural and uh state roads linking communities to the federal highways and airports to this will actually open the communities to Investments as you said to ease also traveling other basic infrastructural needs put in place will actually boost this tourism now when they boost this tourism do don't you feel or think maybe those at the Helm of the Affairs particularly those under for instance probably the governor who is in place who is the figurehead those who are under owe this responsibility to to make sure that funds which are actually coming in Via investment or even uh neutral tourists who are actually coming in to enjoy the event just as they came in for some of the events which I have just mentioned will actually exploit the issue and when they exploit these festivals Cashwise what instruments are in place to make sure that they put them in check okay so um the instruments in place well first of all it has to be security we have to deal with the issue of security we even we the local of Nigeria you know going out and coming in is just by the grace of God so if we cannot assure ourselves of the security of where we are living how much more people you know we are trying to mure into our country with the aid of them or rather with term so first of all they have on security and then accessability which is basic infrastructure you don't need to be begging the government for R these are things that know last week or rather early this week I I'm really cheing about that but there was a news about a state Governor I wouldn't want to mention government name saying that there is no government that can fix his State Road within 8 how will a government say that in public television how will you say that so these are things that affecting and Hing tourism from going beyond what is supposed to be right like now we are not we I can't you know you can't encourage friend you can't encourage them to come to the country bed on the fact that security not bad infrastructure is bad I I remember a few years back I I went to um for for um an excurtion and you know going to such a place I was wondering why you know such a place is not really promoted on the news and all but right now I was able to go there um without issue but now if someone is going to such a place you know you be afraid of insecurity the road be good enough for me to go there and you know come back safely so these are the things that are and then again tourism is one way that the economy can grow because we will be able to generate Revenue the economy and you know it will also promote um job opportunities for people you see people start to have businesses because tourist buy one or the other to take home to show proof that are been to this place so it to promote local businesses as well so these are the things that the government should look into and we are pleading with the government both the state government and the federal government even the local government they should work on this this is more we should not just focus on the oil oil oil oil there are so many sectors and one very important and major sector to grow the economy is the P sector thank you very much okay you mentioned something about the uh roads now let's focus on these uh roads now who is actually to function of maintain or even construct these roads the government most definitely now the question is is it the psyche of those in government not to be disposed to the functions in which they ought to dispers to the people or they should actually be phased out why because a new set of people need to come on board or secondly is it the fault of the the the the V vs or electorates who put them there not to accept their functions concerning uh fixing these roads to bring in prospective investors to actually make sure that this venue or this Venture the tourism sector can actually boost the economy I want to ask you on a liberal note who was actually to take the blame if if we are being very honest we are all to take the blame both the civilians and both the government because now you said something about you know voting in the right people again sometimes you tend to vote people you feel are the right people and they going there and they forget the duty or the reason why voted and then again we have Nigeria as you know our votes really don't our votes really don't count sorry I'm very sorry to say so some sometimes the people are in the Forefront are not the people who we actually voted for maybe they would come out to say yes they voted them but I wouldn't want that's not the issue on ground but what I'm trying to say is it's it's it BS down to everyone it's not just because if the government is not working we as you know we can also push them to work we can push them look at that last year that was the very first time I heard about it and based on the fact that you know we the civilians and the the people who promoted it on social media putting you know they use their to propagate it out there globally people flying and you could see that the way it was last year is quite different from this year this year it was more announced more pronounced people looked forward to it so I feel that the government yes the government has a larger part to play but we also as civilians you know if the the government is not we we can also work on our own in terms of securing the tourist when they come around and you know sometimes when tourists are even the local tourist Nigerian as as as as a tourist this is particular location a attraction we are being you know they kind of like um you have all these local clubs Who attack you who they fun as it should be so if the government can put the right place people in place they can start walking on the road because I don't think this road based on the amount of money that's being consumed by the government on a daily basis I don't think this Road are issued for them if they decide to it's just for them to decide to and then it to be G okay thank you okay uh another one here right now let's focus on this o DEA you made mention of the fact that the first time you heard it was in 2023 now it was quite elaborate based on awareness campaign in this 2024 will it not be a Clarion call for other states to rise up to make sure they promote their own indigenous festivals the role of the state government to come into actually play some laudable role concerning the awareness campaign to boost in fine yes we agree that uh everything is always at the center state governments are dependent on the center but as it is now can the state governments on their own part explore this Venture as a rise up to competition we only have okay fine we're conversant with the calaba carnival the calaba carnival is quite pronounced held every December do you judel now has come to even create his awareness now we now see that there are two uh announced uh festivals which are quite dominant yes now we now have the arungu festival in the North in the northern part of Nigeria we've not been hearing anything about that one we also have the ofala Festival of course the B Empire also also has his own a festival also now the government on the own part while intentions particularly the state government could be loable enough to diversify its revenues through tourism there must be a clear and seamless strategy to achieve it 2030 goal by providing better security to enhance his objective but truth be told if security concerns are not addressed as you have actually said earlier on these festivals won't only be hijacked Alone by Mis grants or as they are now widely known as Bandits Bo harams just to mention the ice swaps we likewise Drive Away tourists and financial backers for instance the agu festival which I just mentioned if which is a 4 Day Festival in kby state and other northern states such as Niger States and Northwestern parts of Nigeria now your own disposition now what do you feel you might profer or Prof actually yeah profer as uh solutions to make sure that these issues can actually be addressed now I'm talking about the state Governors making sure that they promote their indigenous festivals on a healthy note not on a negative note okay all right for me the first thing first is before I even answer the question you know um it's surprising that people don't know about this Festival okay myself included because I was surprised um you know this the guy who became the face of the um Festival he said that he has been attending that festival for over 15 years with his family so imagine that we have such a beautiful cultural Festival who which has been going on for a very long time and we just getting to know about a few years ago which is really bad so the first thing that the government needs to do is need to work on the pr they need to work on the awarness we are not we are not promoting our culture at all in any way all the festivals we have mentioned I'm pretty sure both in the north the South the East and the West they all have their own cultural Festival which is done year and we do not hear about them so the only way we can hear about them is by promoting and one now is social Med bring influencers we have so many social influencers one of influencer that you know promoted I won't really call him an influencer but you know he's a photographer influencer that promoted um the festival was I'm trying to remember his name Mr or something like that that was the guy that promoted it and you know with his camera with the lens he could bring out the beauty of of that Festival so we need so many people we have so many Festival sorry so many influencers who are both on the local and interational level you can use them to promote the festivals that we have in Nigeria not just the TV or radio station we could use there so many social media apps to use you could use Instagram Tik Tok different social media apps to promote our festivals and you know we did and then again when it comes to um awareness there has to be that tension build up the tension build up the tension in a way that people are looking forward to experiencing what you're talking about and that was what this year so a lot of people who I'm pretty sure did not attend last year based on um the awareness that it got last year you know this year the look forward that tension that was a lot of people from different parts of the world so I'm telling you most people came for that festival and not just that fesal we have the new Festival in the East we have Festival in the north and people are coming in they're looking forward they want to promote their culture speak to this people you know get representatives from different cultures on how we would want their you know culture or their SE to be promoted like and then I always go back to to the most important for me this is one of the most important thing make this Festival accessible the bad R it's inacessible if you don't have a good infrastructural facilities it's inac in if um you need hotels around them you know promote local businesses that can help them to you know want to promote the festivals in their own way you time so these are the things that I feel that can help the the um rather that can attract people attract investors attract to our cultural festivals that we have in Nigeria okay that was quite extensive and elaborate but in some total if I may get you straight to you may actually be talking about two major things which is accessibility and awareness from the federal or the state governments to actually generate income for the economy concerning the country thank you yes and and do not forget security which is very very important yes with is gerain because if it is not actually taken care of by the security operatives therefore it might be hijacked and also undermined at the end of the day right yes okay yes okay okay thank you very much uh t for taking out time to be with us on the show today it's been a lovely session with you we do well to have you from time to time concerning uh ertic affairs from time to time if you really comply all right thank you very much for having me and I look forward to coming next time all right thank you very much all right bye yes thank you well we heard it all extensively from uh branch manager of fly connect arinami who has actually taken time to expiate concerning the needs the involvement the awareness and also the accessibility and also security concerning these festivals to actually raking income just as uh countries like Brazil actually do with their festivals no doubt Festival such as theud in state the arungu fishing Festival in kby theala Festival in anra the calaba carnival in Cross River just to mention a few like I said earlier in the in the introductory phase of the show showcase a colorful and assemblage of culture particularly in satorial opulence music dance food and Fan Fair organizers should aim to make it not just indigenous but Frankly Speaking Global now Beyond being rhetoric the federal government particularly the state government should reinvigorate his cultural festivals to promote his sense of belonging preserve its Heritage and haret its economic uh potentials the show has been Viewpoint where we discover perspectives and embrace dialogue you do well to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us across social media platforms thanks for watching
2024-07-19 11:12
